We want to make sure there is representation on the boards from the political parties but they must be qualified – Gavoka

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Viliame Gavoka says they must remember that they have a coalition government in place and they want to make sure that there is representation on the boards of state owned enterprises from the political parties but they are very careful that those that come from a political party are people who are qualified.

While speaking to the media following the launch of the Asian Development Bank report on state owned enterprises titled Finding Balance 2023, Gavoka says the process for making appointments to the boards of state owned enterprises has been transparent where people applied and appointments were made mostly on that basis.

The Deputy Prime Minister says when they opened up applications for state owned enterprises’ boards, about 1,300 people applied.

Gavoka says this is different compared to how the FijiFirst Party was just appointing their cronies on the boards.

While speaking during the launch of the report, Gavoka says in February, the cabinet endorsed the implementation of a guideline for a merit-based selection and appointment process for board directors.

Gavoka says this guideline provides for a transparent appointment process that ensures that the best candidates are selected for appointment to boards of government companies and statutory bodies, based on experience and qualifications.

He says the guideline was also created with the intention of being a benchmark process in the appointment of directors of other boards across ministries.

The Deputy Prime Minister says the government is committed to supporting improvements to legal, regulatory and monitoring arrangements to strengthen state-owned enterprises' overall performance.

He adds they are doing this to ensure transparency and accountability mechanisms that give confidence and strengthen the investors, encourages management and operations of state-owned enterprises.

When questioned on the value of privatisation of state-owned enterprises as it was discussed by the ADB during the launch of the report, Gavoka says privatisation is something that they can take very seriously in this country but he still has reservations that it is not the be all and end all of everything.

He says there are still some assets that need to be controlled by the government such as Fiji Rice.

When questioned on tariff rates for utilities if the government is considering privatisation of utility companies, Gavoka says they would like to have an assurance that it is not going to blow out and impact the consumers.